Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch...

Chaps Chafe




Truth be told, they're not really chaps, but they're close - see here to learn more about chaps and specifically what I'm wearing. The set I'm wearing was handmade by the ranch owner who's a bit smaller than I am, so they probably wouldn't chafe, but I'm wearing a size or two too small. The leather is really helpful to protect my pants (I'm currently destroying reinforced Carhartts) when I'm hauling hay and building bucks. The picture is for all those who thought chaps were so funny...

That's a Ton of Hay!

Actually, it's 8 tons of hay. My first day back from Portland and I was back moving hay bales. We've done about 55 tons and by the end of the week we'll have over 100 tons of hay in the barn (for winter feed). We'll be up before the sun on Saturday to head into town for 2 semi-loads and then we should be finished with hay and I'll begin working on my riding skills so we can go round up the cattle.

Party in PDX!

I took a vacation from my vacation last weekend and headed back to Portland for a wedding. I took a ton of pictures, but none on my camera, so I have nothing to show at this point. Suffice to say I enjoyed my time at each step: Phantom, the wedding, the wedding reception, and everything in between - I even have a partially broken nose to prove it!

Thanks to all my wonderful Oregon friends!

Thistle While I Work

No, it's not a speech impediment (I got that fixed years ago - mostly), my life has just been dominated by thistles. I spent 11 hours of hard labor today trying to rid the ranch of this stinking plant. I now officially despise them... It's so bad that I literally (yes, literally) close my eyes and I see the plant. Apparently these things just take over so I'm trying to cut them down before they seed out.

Everything purple you see in the picture is a thistle. Now multiple that by 300 acres - and include the juvenile plants and related thistles that aren't as big (and are hidden in grass that comes up to my waist) and you've got my day and most of my tomorrow.

But I wouldn't trade it! Partly because the hard work is welcome after sitting on my rump for the last four years of my life, and partly because Colorado is just awesome. Take a gander at the rainbow over the property that I enjoyed over dinner:

Who's got two thumbs and loves Colorado?

This guy!

That's right, I'm now sponsored by Hideaway Ranch. I guess I've shoveled enough poop that they gave me an official jacket!

The following picture is of Hideaway - in the grove on the left you can kind of see the house where I'm staying, then the pastures, the horse barn, the shop/barn, and the indoor/outdoor arena. There's a total of 325 acres surrounded by thousands of acres in Routt National Forest! It's just as amazing as you can imagine!

Golf in Ski Town, USA

Steamboat is certainly not known for its golf and I was surely spoiled by the plethora of options in Spokane, but my brother, father, and I decided to venture out to one of the courses in town. Not a hard course, but it was nice to be back out - and you can't beat playing golf at 7000+ feet! I was killing the ball - multiple 300+ yard drives, thanks to the thin air.



With the family in town, I might get some work done tomorrow - more likely it'll just be more lounging, watching the Olympics, and hiking... Life's rough.

Here I am

I spent 5 hours walking the pasture in this picture (from the fence over to the pens) today looking for thistle to cut... While I was there, I kept thinking about all the stuff I want to tell folks, but each time I thought of something to tell someone else, I forgot what I was supposed to say to the other person. So I decided to start this to show everyone how cool I am!

So far, I've been building fences, cutting rails, mucking stalls, feeding horses, and all the other random needs of a ranch... So far, so awesome!

The golden horse (an appaloosa) is named Clyde and is one of 13 currently at the ranch.